When Norris was 12, his parents divorced and he relocated to California with his mother and brothers. There, he finished high school and soon married his girlfriend, Diane Holechek[?]. After marriage, Norris joined the United States Marine Corps and was sent to South Korea. It was in South Korea that Norris acquired the nickname Chuck.

Sensei Norris has indicated in his own biography that he has black belts in Tang Soo Do, Tae Kwon Do, and is founder of Chun Kuk Do ("Universal Way").
Mr. Norris has also practiced Judo, Shito-Ryu Karate, and Brazilian Jujutsu. He is also creator of The United Fighting Arts Federation (UFAF).
Norris returned to the United States in 1962, working for the Northrop corporation and opening a karate school. Many celebrities, including fellow Marine Steve McQueen attended Norris' school, and in 1963, his son Mike was born. A daughter, Dina followed in 1964, and a second son, Eric, in 1965. But another important moment happened in 1964: at a demonstration in Long Beach, Norris met Bruce Lee. Impressed with Norris' ability, it was Lee who began to persuade Norris into trying an acting career.

Norris began making his own stunts during the filming of 1977's Breaker, Breaker![?], and by the 1980s, many of his movies were box office hits. In the middle of the 1980s, Norris moved to buddying movie company Cannon Films[?], and he became one of the new company's stars, but the company fell thru after the murder of it's owner and his wife by their own sons, and Norris would soon find himself doing television instead. He divorced Holechek in 1988, after 30 yeas of marriage.

In 1990, Norris founded the non-profit organization Kick Drugs Out of America, and in 1993, he began shooting the series Walker,Texas Ranger[?], which lasted eight years on CBS and whose episodes are heavily re-run on other channels.

He re-married in 1998, this time to former model Gina O' Kelley[?], and she delivered twins in 2001: Dakota Alan Norris, a boy, and Danilee Kelly Norris, a girl.